Guest Blogger and GIVEAWAY Time!

Today I am so excited to be hosting

a special guest blogger!

I would love to introduce you to

Melanie Thornton.

Melanie is the owner of the fabulous

web store, Above All Fabric.

For those of you who are new to her store,

Melanie carries a wide variety

of fabrics, patterns, trims,

notions, and ribbons

that would satisfy the taste buds of

any sewing enthusiast!

If you hop over to her store,

you will see that shipping in the US

is never more than $5 !

Above All Fabric also has a perks plus/reward points program.

(I personally love reward points

and I am so glad to be able to earn them on the

fabric that I purchase!)

In addition to running her online store, raising her family,

quilting, and sewing,

Melanie even found time to help start

the Tucson Modern Quilt Guild.

__________________________

So here is a little bit about Melanie in her own words:

Tell us about yourself and how you got started sewing/quilting.

I started sewing at a very young age because my mom sews. She would make us matching outfits and stuff like that. My grandmother (95 years old) is the quilter of the family. She still completes multiple quilts each year. In high school, I had made several jean/flannel quilts. Simple squares, tied with yarn ... nothing very fancy. Then after I went to college, I decided one summer to make a sampler block quilt. So I bought a book and learned about templates and 1/4" seams. I machine pieced my quilt (a queen size) but decided I needed to be true to the tradition of quilting and hand quilt it. On my! It was totally overwhelming! My grandma showed me how to do little stitches- and I was terrible at it! It took me forever to ... and so finally about 10 years later, I hired someone to finish it for me so that my family could actually use the quilt! Looking back at it, the quilt is no longer my style but I love that we can use it.

What lead you to open your own store?

Well, basically, I'm crazy! I started to sell my own items several years ago. People were always asking me where I got my fabric. Several things influenced my store- so when we sold our house, I used some of the money to start the store.

What types of fabrics are you drawn to?

I find that my fabric styles definately shift over time. I am usually an earthtone girl...love browns and greens and yellows (not sunny). I love sewing for my daughter and find I can use anything from tonals to bright prints for her clothing. For quilts, I love things that will switch from room to room rather than focusing on making something for a particular room. I've also done quilts for each of my kids first birthdays...that was fun. I want to do that for my nieces and nephews too!

What kind of projects are you currently working on?

Right now I am working on a few projects that aren't ready to be revealed yet! Isn't that mean! I am also trying to finish up a couple of outfits for a show that I have next week. I also have a Make Life quilt that is completely pieced and I just need to sandwich and do the free motion quilting!

What is your favorite fabric line and why?

Gosh, a favorite is so hard to choose! I love Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow. I am also excited about Patty Young's new line that is coming out... and Kate Spain is my favorite Moda designer right now (I love her new line that is coming out in January).

What project (quilting or non-quilting) would you like to tackle at some point in the future?

My goal this past year has been to sew more for myself, which has been great. BUT I have not made myself pants (besides PJ pants) and with the extra curves motherhood has given me, the whole idea of flattering pants is kind of  scary to me (I use my kids as an excuse, but let's be honest, the donuts don't help much)! So maybe 2011 will be the year of the perfect pants!

Thank you Melanie for sharing a little bit about yourself!

___________________

 

Now for the GIVEAWAY!

Melanie is giving one of my fabulous readers a

fat quarter bundle of

PURE by Sweetwater for Moda!

To enter the giveaway:

hop over to Above All Fabric

look around and come back and tell me

what is your favorite fabric line.

For an additional entry in the giveaway

become a follwer of my blog

or Melanie's blog !

Also leave a link to this post on your blog

for another entry in the giveaway!

_____________

In addition to the awesome giveaway prize,

Melanie is also offering a 10% discount

to all orders at Above All Fabric

for the next week.

You must use the code:PATCHWORK

in order to receive the discount!

The discount code is good until

Thursday, November 4th!

Thank you again Melanie for being our guest blogger,

for offering a great giveaway prize,

and for the great discount!

_____________

So let the giveaway begin!

Entries for the giveaway will be taken until

midnight Monday, November 1st .

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 2nd!

Until Next Time .... Happy Quilting!

Fridays With Friends : Bari J. Ackerman

Blogland is such a great way to meet

and connect with people that

you would have never known.

I thought that I would take a little time

to share some of the awesome

people that I have met through blogland.

So grab a cuppa tea and enjoy!

Today I would like to introduce you to

Bari J. (The "J" is for her middle name, Jill)

Bari wears many hats-mom, designer of patterns & fabric,

and  book author.

If you hop over to her blog,

you will see that Bari has a flare for color & pattern.

If you ask me, she does a great job of

mixing the modern with the artistic.


Her latest fabric line is called

Country Lane for Windham Fabrics.


When I saw Country Lane,

I thought "Modern Country"!

(and the red dots stole my heart)

Here are some great projects that

Bari created with her Country Lane fabric:

This stool is so adorable!

(I saw it in person at Quilt Market)

This quilt block is actually the center of

a free quilt patter that Bari

created for Windham Fabrics.

You can find the pattern here.

_____________________________________

I was able to sit down and ask Bari

a few questions about herself.

Here is what she had to say:

Tell us about yourself and how you got

started in the industry.

It was a long path, but looking back, it all makes sense. And now I think that I am doing what I was meant to do.

After college I  was a copy writer/graphic designer in the advertising industry. But after having my first child, I started puttering around with crafting. At some point I turned to sewing, creating a handbag. Apparently what no one wanted to tell me at the time, was that it was a relatively badly made creation. Today I call it "The Ugly Bag". But I was so pleased with having accomplished that, I just continued making bag after bag after bag and eventually turned that into a small business. That was where my advertsing background came in handy. I was able to create the graphics for my website, advertising etc. on my own. It was addicting. And it lent itself to fabric design which I secretly wanted to do.

Then, in early 2008 I attended the Country Living Women's Entrepreneur event. The woman who did the keynote speech talked about verbalizing what it is you want. Until then I didn't want to say that I wanted to design fabric. I didn't want to be a "wannabe" and frankly, I didn't want to publicly fail. But when I got home, I immediately blogged about it. Then I set to the work of designing. When I came up with my first line, I had it printed digitally . I made appointments with companies and licensed it by December of 2008 and it was shown at market in Spring 2009.

Since then I have produced two additional lines of fabric and this year I started a line of sewing patterns.

What is a typical day like for you?

I get up around 7 AM and get the kids to school. I'll often take a quick walk around. Then it's straight to work. Some days are filled with designing and some days are just mundane paperwork and shipping. When the kids get home from school and activities and have started homework (they are 12 & 14 and pretty self-sufficient), I work a bit more and then it's family time. Dinner. Clean up. Bed.

What is your favorite color to design with?

Ooh, that's tough. I'd have to say I like anything bright. Bright pastels especially.

Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming book, Inspired to Sew. What is your favorite project in the book?

I'm really excited about this book! It incorporates all of my favorite kinds of sewing projects. A lot of people assumed it would be bags, but it really covers a large array of projects. There are collage projects, applique, a little embroidery and so much more. And it is filled with my "Keeping it Real Sewing" tips that you also find in my sewing patterns so that anyone can do the projects.

Is there any project (quilting or non-quilting) that you would like to tackle next?

I really want to do more apparel. I've done a little bit, but I'm looking forward to really homing my skills including pattern grading and drafting etc.

What is next on the horizon for you?

I want to build the Bari J brand. So I am working on getting my designs licensed in other arenas, including home goods, scrapbooking, office goods, and more.

I want to thank Bari for sharing a little bit about herself with us!

Please visit Bari's  website:

http://www.barijonline.com/

and her blog

http://barij.typepad.com/my_weblog/

for more inspiration!


Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Star Struck Blog Tour & Giveaway

Welcome to another stop on the

Star Struck Quilts Blog Tour!

Barbara Cline's new book is filled with the most

amazing quilts! They are the kind of quilts that

would satisfy any quilter's taste buds.

Every quilter (traditional & modern) loves stars.

Star Stuck Quilts includes 13 skill building projects.

When you master all of these skills,

you can mix & match all of these blocks

 and you will wind up with

27 different quilts!

Here are just a few of the quilts from her book:

If you are a new quilter or someone who has

never made a Lone Star quilt,

this book is  a great place to start.

Barbara starts out by teaching a simple star

and then each subsequent star

teaches a new technique.

Best of all, Barbara's teaches the technique

of blocking so that your diamond shapes won't

end up with bias edges!

________________________

I had a chance to ask Barbara a few questions

that I thought  I would share with you:

Your book focuses on the beautiful Lone Star.

What draws you to the Lone Star quilt pattern?

It is an old traditional pattern and

my heart is drawn to traditional patterns.

I like to get an old pattern and put a twist to it.

With the Lone Star, quilters are afraid of it because of the

"Y" seams and all the points.

The key to getting this wonderful

star pieced is to learn a

few techniques taught in the book,

which will enhance ones'

piecing abilities and increase the joys of quilting.

What would be the best tip that you would give

to a quilter who is going to make a Lone Star quilt?

There are step by step illustrations in the book

on how to make a "Y" seam.

If one follows these steps,

"Y" seams become easy.

Once you have the "Y" seam technique

down pat, it opens

a new avenue of sewing

and one can piece so many more types of quilts!

What is your favorite quilt in the book and why?

My favorite quilt in the book is

"Stitches That Bind".

A deadline for the book was coming up

and I was running out of time.

It was Labor Day and my daughters had the day off.

They agreed to put in a day of sewing for me.

We picked out the fabrics in the morning

and by evening we were ready to sew the blocks together.

We had a wonderful mini sewing retreat that day.

Thanks Barbara for sharing your thoughts with us!

_______________________________

Now for the giveaway:

1st place winner will receive a copy of Star Struck Quilts!

2nd place winner will receive a gift set which includes:

Pen style Chaco Liner, flower head pins,

and Mary Ellen's Best Press

A 3rd name will be sent to Barbara for a chance to

win RJR fabric and a $25 gift certificate to Patchwork Plus.

To enter, simply leave me a comment.

The giveaway will end on Saturday, September 4th at midnight.

A winner will be drawn on Sunday, September 5th.

Good luck. I hope that you will be dreaming of STARS!

Until Next Time...Happy Quilting!

Star Struck Quilts Blog Tour Begins

Barbara Cline has a new book titled

Star Struck Quilts.

To celebrate the release of her new book,

C&T Publishing is hosting

a blog tour which starts today!

Along the way,

Barbara will be sharing snippets about herself

and her new book.

At each stop, you will have a chance to win

a copy of her book

and other great prizes (notions, fabric,& a $25 gift certificate)!

To enter, just visit each of these blog tour stops

to learn more about Barbara and her great book:

August 23:  Julia Garber

August 24 : Polly the Patchworker

August 25: Quilters Corner

August 26: Dorcas Smucker

August 27: Canton Village Quilt Works

August 28: Deb Griotti

August 29: Vickie of Spun Sugar 

August 30: Quilternity

August 31 : Burgundy Buttons

September 1: Me

September 2: Tazzie of Tazzie Quilts

Here is one of my favorite quilts

from Barbara's Star Struck Quilts book:

I would just love to make this quilt out

of bright, bold solids!

See you along the way on Barbara's Blog Tour.

Until Next Time ... Happy Quilting!

I Am A Guest

Today I will be a guest blogger

at Aunt Spicy's.

I will be sharing my ideas

about my own color.

Please stop by and let us know what is your color.

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

(BTW-Tomorrow is the last day to enter

my City Quilts giveaway. You still have time to enter here)

City Quilts Blog Tour

Welcome to the 3rd stop on the City Quilts Blog Tour!

I am very thrilled to be hosting

Cherri House, author of City Quilts

on my blog today.

 City Quilts is one of my favorite quilting books!

I have read it cover-to-cover 10 times because I

am drawn to the bold colors and clean, simple lines of her quilts.



In this book, Cherri takes you on a tour of her hometown of Houston,Texas.

This not just any tour of Houston,

but a tour as seen through the eyes of a quilter!

Many of her favorite sites from around town

(like the park, shops, or buildings)

are the inspiration for the quilts in her book.

 City Circle  is based upon the Houston road system,

which consists of a series of loops that encompass the city.

City Center represents Cherri's interpretation

of how downtown Houston would

look from a helicopter.

All of the quilts in the  book are done exclusively in solids

but they are based upon traditional piecing.

Cherri  takes you on a eye catching journey

 of different color palettes

and she shows you that "simple isn't boring".

I had the opportunity to sit with Cherri

and she shared the following insights with me.

Can you tell us how your first got started quilting?

I made my first quilt with my mom when I was 12 years old. She had cut templates out of cardboard and we cut around the fabric using them. My mom was an amazing seamstress, and the fabric for the quilt was leftovers from years of sewing.

How would you describe your quilting style?

Contemporary, minimalist, in terms of fabric and ornamentation. Traditional as far as actual quilt patterns used, like bow-ties, log cabins, and my favorite "the nine patch".

What came first: the name of the quilt, the quilt pattern, or the color choice?

It really varies from quilt to quilt, with City News (one of my quilt patterns) I was wanting to make a black/white/red quilt, then the old joke"-what is black & white, and read all over" came to mind, an the quilt developed from there. It's quite a long, mental process before the physical work ever begins.

I noticed that you machine quilted several of your quilts in the book. For those of us that are machine quilters, can you give us some tips?

Probably my best tip would be, before beginning each quilt to make a quilt sandwich with the fabric/batting/thread that you will be using and do a practice run before starting your actual quilt. This way you work out any thread/tension issues prior to starting on the real deal.

Quilt with YLI silk thread! Much to many folks surprise it seems, I quilt with it all the time. It's strong, it sinks well into the fabric and its a dream to work with. Be sure and use a smaller needle (#60 or 70) if you are using silk thread.

I absolutely love your City Lot quilt. What is your favorite quilt from the book and why?

City Lot is my favorite too! Why? I love the colors. I love the uniformed grid of it, and I love that there is a secondary pattern that you can only see from a distance, Aside from all of that, who would imagine something of beauty could be inspired by a parking lot?

Can you tell us what is on the horizon for you?

I'm thinking about another book, working on lots of new patterns using a variety of fabrics- not just solids. I'd like to design a line of fabric somewhere down the road. More cake parties-always more cake parties!

Thank you Cherri for sharing your insights with us!

To enter my drawing for a copy of  City Quilts

compliments of C & T Publishing

and a fat quarter stack of

Kona Solids compliments of Robert Kaufman fabrics,

please leave me comment on this post.

I am adding something extra of my own to the giveaway!

Become a follower of my blog

or post a link to my giveaway on your blog

and you will be entered into a

separate drawing for and EQ7 Upgrade.

(you must have EQ6 for this software).

The deadline to enter my giveaway will be

Saturday, July 24th at midnight CST.

The winners will be announced on Sunday, July 25th.

Please be sure to check out the other blog tour hosts

for more from Cherri and more chances to win .

July 15th: Pat Sloan http://patsloan.typepad.com/

July 16th: Spool http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog

July 17th: Allie/Robert Kaufman http://swatchandstitch.com/

July 18th: John/Fat Quarterly http://blog.fatquarterly.com/

July 19th: Emily Cier http://carolinapatchwork.com/blog

July 20th: Sarah/Josh Sewer Sewist

http://www.sewer-sewist.com/

July 21: Julie http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

July 22nd : Vickie http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/

July 23rd: Jessica Levitt http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/

July 24th: Kim Knight http://www.trueup.net/

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Cherri House Blog Tour

While the rest of the country is in a heatwave,

we are lucky to have cooler weather.

We took advantage of the cooler weather by playing outdoors.

I took my City Quilts book by Cherri House

outside and read it again for the 10th time!

My Little Person also loves the book:

I met Cherri at Quilt Market  and I am so proud to be a part of her

City Quilts Blog Book Tour!

We have become quite the blog/twitter buddies!

Here are the dates of her blog tour:

July 12th- Cheryl Arkison http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/

July 13th- Amy Lobsiger http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/

July 14th- Stefanie Roman http://littleladypatchwork.blogspot.com/

July 15th- Pat Sloan http://patsloan.typepad.com/

July16th- Spool http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog

July 17th- Allie/RobertKaufman http://www.swatchandstitch.com/

July 18th-John/Fat Quarterly http://blog.fatquarterly.com/

July 19th- Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog

July 20th- Sarah/Josh Sewer Sewist http://www.sewer-sewist.com/

July 21st- Julie/Jaybird http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

July22nd Vickie Eapen http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/

July 23rd- Jessica Levitt http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/

July 24th - Kim knight http://www.trueup.net/

I hope to see you guys on July 14th when Cherri stops by my blog.

BTW-There will be a BIG giveaway!

Until Next Time... Happy Quilting!